In a move that no one saw coming, parts of the award-winning Philadelphia restaurant group, Vetri Family, is being sold to Urban Outfitters. Osteria, Amis, Pizzeria Vetri, Alla Spina and more will all be absorbed by the clothing retailer as part of their plan to become more of a lifestyle brand. Chef Marc Vetri, co-owner of the restaurant group, assures diners that "nothing is changing” and he intends on still being involved in every aspect of his businesses. “In meetings, everyone from Urban kept saying, ‘It’s more crucial than ever that you guys are at your restaurants,’ " he says. The group’s first restaurant, Vetri, and the restaurant group’s charitable foundation will not be sold to the clothing retailer. While the terms of the deal have not been officially disclosed, some media outlets have reported that the group of restaurants was sold for less than $20 million and the company has plans to attach pizzeria concepts to new Urban Outfitters locations.

Chef Vetri insists that the main reason for the sale is to have access to more capital for his restaurant group. It will be interesting to see how diners react to the news and what, if any, changes are made to these restaurants as part of the sale. Will more restaurant operators follow suit and partner with companies outside of the food world? Read more.

Foodable Network

Foodable is the premier Network for the Restaurant and Hospitality industry. As the leading producer of Social TV, we reach hundreds of thousands of social connections that are targeted operators, foodies, chefs, suppliers, and consumers that thrive on learning more about the industry. Though quickly growing, the Foodable Network, featured on YouTube and iTunes, currently hosts seven shows: Table 42, Rock My Restaurant, Across the Bar, Food as a Lifestyle, On Foodable, Fast Casual Nation and more!

News by US City

The way it works

Our Foodable Top 25 restaurant rankings are not hand-selected or chosen by an editor. These lists are based off of unstructured data from Foodable Labs, which tracks over 171K restaurants and brands, and calculates data based on the mass social audience across multiple markets and countries. The Foodable Top 25 drills down into the local-social audience, or geo-located social actions, in each respective city or market we cover. We seek the real social impact of what people think about the experience of your restaurant at the local level.